Starting August 1, to be foreclosed upon in Hennepin County, your home foreclosure notice no longer needs to be published in an area "likely to give notice,” but instead in any one of the following newspapers (no kidding, any one regardless of where you live):

American Jewish World

Bloomington Sun-Current

Brooklyn Center Sun-Post

Brooklyn Park Sun-Post

Champlin-Dayton Press

City Pages LLC

Crystal & Robbinsdale Sun-Post

Eden Prairie News

Eden Prairie Sun-Current

Edina Sun-Current

Excelsior/Shorewood Sun-Sailor

Finance and Commerce

Hopkins & Minnetonka Sun-Sailo

Lakeshore Weekly News

Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal

Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

New Hope & Golden Valley Sun-P

Osseo-Maple Grove Press

Plymouth Sun-Sailor

Richfield Sun-Current

St Louis Park Sun-Sailor

Star Tribune

The AfricaPaper

The Laker

The Open U Inc.

The Pioneer

Wayzata Orono & Long Lake Sun

So someone living in South Minneapolis could be foreclosed upon by publication in the Osseo-Maple Grove Press, or someone living in Brooklyn Park could be foreclosed upon by publication in Waconia's "The Laker." This is absolutely nuts. It does, however, make it cheaper for banks as they race to the bottom in terms of publication costs.If you're wondering about your rights in Minnesota's foreclosure process, contact a Drewes Law foreclosure attorney today: 612-285-3051.

The United States District Court of Minnesota essentially ruled on Thursday that Messerli & Kramer shouldn't exaggerate judgment amounts: "by including the disbursements into the outstanding balance of the judgment in the dunning letter, Defendant violated this provision of the FDCPA."

When it comes to applying for a loan modification in Minnesota, I routinely discourage clients from seeking assistance from California or Florida law firms. Loan modification is very important to struggling Minnesota homeowners and representation often helps a person persevere through the well documented frustrating processes and run-arounds (see below video).

Yet, seeking loan modification from afar seems to often lead to trouble, as seen by the recent CONVICTION of loan modification scam artists from California.

Stay local where you can meet with your attorney to help you understand the process and your legal rights. Drewes Law, PLLC assists homeowners understand their rights and options when facing possible foreclosure or financial difficulty. For more information, call an attorney today: 612-285-3051.

A debt collector in Georgia has agreed to close its open collection accounts and bar its doors forever after losing a battle with the Governor's Office of Consumer Protection over a long history of collection abuses. The company, Zenith Financial Group, will pay $15,000 in damages and write off all its accounts immediately. Additionally, under its settlement with the State, Zenith and its owner will face an automatic $445,000 fine if either is caught trying to re-enter the collection industry.

"We call that the 'hammer clause,'" boasted John Sours, administrator of the Georgia Governor's Office of Consumer Protection.

This agreement finally seals Zenith's fate after years of complaints about its aggressive and illegal collection techniques. These included falsely threatening debtors with arrest, threatening and swearing at debtors, threatening physical violence, attempting to collect debts too old to be pursued, refusing to validate or support debts with evidence upon request, calling debtors very early in the morning and very late at night, collecting debts that do not exist, and a myriad of other claims. Each tactic appears to violate both federal law (the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) and Georgia's own collection laws.

Many of these harassment techniques are par for the course when dealing with collection scam artists, illegal fly-by-night collection shops that use harassment and threats as their main tactic. These scam groups scare up as much money as possible before falling off the radar and starting again somewhere else.

What's less common is to see these tactics used by a legitimate collection agency like Zenith. Even in a field with a reputation for unsavoriness, it's surprising that an actual, licensed and registered collector would so flippantly violate the law, and in such spectacular fashion, for so long.

This website is designed to provide general information only and the information contained herein should not be construed as legal advice. You are NOT a "client" of the firm without express consent of Drewes Law, PLLC, regardless of your use or review of this website, your contact with the firm, or unsolicited payment made to the firm.